Youth summit explores the world of medicine

High school students get hands-on education in healthcare careers and campus life

By Debra FilcmanJuly 18, 2013

For nine days in June, some of the most impressive young minds in the country descended on campus to learn about the future of medicine.

And explore their own future.

The inaugural Global Youth Summit on the Future of Medicine gathered a diverse group of nearly 175 teenagers mulling careers in medicine and healthcare. The delegates received a behind-the-scenes, hands-on education, attending talks by renowned doctors and scholars, including the dean of Harvard Medical School and the deputy editor of the New England Journal of Medicine; visiting medical schools and hospitals in the Boston area; and observing surgeries and other procedures.

“The idea behind the summit was to reach out to students who have enthusiasm for a biomedical career and give them the type of experience and exposure to medicine that you usually don’t get until you’re already in college,” says Provost Steve A.N. Goldstein.

The summit also gave the highly competitive delegates — rising high school sophomores, juniors and seniors with a nearly 10 to 1 ratio of applicants to accepted students — exposure to life at Brandeis.

“Brandeis is unique in the top tier of institutions in science and medicine because instead of a large factory-like environment, this university offers an intense, personal think tank-like milieu,” Goldstein says. “The students are brought right into the mix of what faculty are doing.”

Despite increasing pressure on students to choose a career path early, Goldstein says college is the place for exploration. “A university experience is one where you can explore the many ways you can impact the world. I’m excited not only to offer this program again but other career explorations in areas students are excited about.”